ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Dec 2025
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
December 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
November 2025
Latest News
INL makes first fuel for Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment
Idaho National Laboratory has announced the creation of the first batch of enriched uranium chloride fuel salt for the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE). INL said that its fuel production team delivered the first fuel salt batch at the end of September, and it intends to produce four additional batches by March 2026. MCRE will require a total of 72–75 batches of fuel salt for the reactor to go critical.
John H. Pendergrass, David B. Harris, Donald J. Dudziak
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 13 | Number 2 | February 1988 | Pages 375-395
Technical Paper | Heavy-Ion Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST88-A25112
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new model for the cost of production of heavy-ion fusion targets in dedicated on-site target factories is presented for power plants. The model treats single- and double-shell direct-drive and generic indirect-drive targets. Target factory capital costs, nontritium target materials costs, and target factory operations and maintenance costs are estimated for target substructures such as fuel capsules, radiation cases, and driver energy absorption regions. These individual estimates are combined to obtain the total target cost. Realistic scaling of target costs with variations of such important performance parameters as target factory production capacity and driver pulse energy is emphasized. The model can be modified and used for other inertial fusion drivers and fuels. Typical target cost estimates fall into the range of $0.25 to 0.45 per target. The estimated target cost contribution to the total cost of production of electric power is typically ∼4 to 7 mill/kW·h.